CHICAGO -- The Nationals optioned 23-year-old All-Star shortstop CJ Abrams to Triple-A Rochester on Saturday.

¡°I just want it to be known, it wasn¡¯t performance-based,¡± said manager Dave Martinez. ¡°It¡¯s an internal issue. I¡¯m not going to give specifics.¡±

Early Friday, a post on X by Cody Delmendo of CHGO Sports said that Abrams was at a local casino until 8 a.m. before Friday's day game. When asked about the post on Saturday, Martinez said, ¡°Like I said, I¡¯m not going to get into any specifics. We¡¯re going to handle this internally.¡±

The plan is for Abrams to go back to Washington, D.C., and then to the Nationals¡¯ training complex in West Palm Beach, Fla., until the end of the Major League season, where a group of Red Wings players also will be staying prepared.

¡°I¡¯m going to support CJ,¡± Martinez said. ¡°He¡¯s a big part of our Nats family, and he will be. But at this point, for me, it¡¯s the right thing to do.¡±

Abrams was informed of the decision following the Nationals¡¯ game on Friday. Martinez said his own ¡°emotions were all over the map¡± during the conversation.

¡°We had our moments, we sat here and we weeped together,¡± said Martinez. ¡°As I always say, it¡¯s about taking care of the person first and not the player. I¡¯m going to do everything I can to help him. I love the kid, he¡¯s a good kid and he¡¯s going to be back.¡±

Abrams earned his first All-Star selection in a strong first half of the season. Following the break, though, he struggled at the plate, posting a .203/.260/.326 slash line with a .586 OPS and five home runs in 49 games.

On the season as a whole, Abrams became a member of the 20-30 club with 20 homers and 31 stolen bases. He was the first Nationals player to do so since Alfonso Soriano in 2006 and only the second in team history (2005-present).

¡°He¡¯s going to be missed, as we all know, but it had nothing to do with his performance,¡± Martinez said. ¡°The kid was a 20-30 guy. I know he struggled a little bit, but so does every young player. But he was doing well.¡±

The Nationals expressed their support for Abrams following their 5-1 win over the Cubs.

¡°CJ¡¯s family,¡± said starting left-hander MacKenzie Gore, who was part of the Padres-Nationals trade with Abrams. ¡°We played together our whole big league careers. It¡¯s a tough situation for me, and I¡¯m always going to be [there] for CJ in this situation. It¡¯s interesting. It was a tough day hearing that. You care about him, so it was tough because we¡¯re close, he¡¯s family. And you lose your best player, so it¡¯s a tough day.¡±

Joey Gallo, who became teammates with Abrams this season, said, ¡°I can speak from my experience with CJ -- it¡¯s been great. He¡¯s still a young kid, and I think we all kind of make mistakes. We¡¯ve all talked to him and just said to keep his head up. He really has had a fantastic year. He¡¯s really a high character guy, he plays the game the right way every day, and he¡¯s a great teammate. I¡¯ve been honored to be able to play with him and share the field with him. Hopefully, he can learn from this and move on and continue to be a great player for this organization.¡±

In a corresponding move, infielder Trey Lipscomb was recalled from Rochester. Nasim Nu?ez got the start at shortstop on Saturday.

¡°I assure you that he¡¯ll be better, he will be,¡± Martinez said of Abrams. ¡°We talked a long time yesterday and last time before we made any decisions. I know that he wants to be here. He expressed that very much. He said he¡¯s going to miss his teammates. But, like I said, without getting into any details, this, to me, was the right thing to do.¡±